Taco John's

Some kids woke us up in the middle of the night. We were all passed out underneath another picnic table awning when there were voices around 11:45. It made us uneasy. We traded a couple of words but they didn't really understand that the sleeping bags meant we wanted to sleep. They said they were out collecting golf balls from the course next door. None of us slipped back into unconsciousness while they were hanging out in the picnic area. What are you doing hanging out next to all of our stuff? The hoodlums moved on eventually and we went back to sleep. Nothing stolen to report.

I got ready a bit earlier than the other guys and went up a half mile or so to snag internet at the Holiday Lodge something or other. I managed to get a post up and then Chris happened to walk out the front door of the motel. We went together to meet everybody at the Walgreens parking lot. Jordan, Jeremy, and Adam showed up a few minutes later and we set out for the day. We did a few miles and then caught up to Chase and it was a six man caravan. That held briefly until we had lunch in Walnut and Chris pressed on. We're in Kansas but it's not totally flat yet. I'll let you know when it gets dead flat. We may grow to curse it later but it hasn't arrived as of this writing. In fact there was a long, steady uphill to our destination in Chanute. The angle was very mild but it was persistent and the headwinds slowed us down as well. Pulled into Chanute around 2:30.

We spent some time at the library and then went to a place called Taco John's. It's about the same as a Taco Bell at home. We ate a bunch of miserable food that was bad for us. I resolved afterward to quit eating that kind of junk bunk quasi-food. Sure, it tastes good – but as for utility – it's not worth much. And it has some other foul side effects. Chase was telling a story and then suddenly seized up, spit out some of his burrito, and started laughing uncontrollably. It felt neat to cut a fart so awful as to stop a man dead in his tracks. If you're looking to get deadly, stop off at Taco John's.

We talked about planning and about getting to the post office in time to pick up Jeremy's wheel and decided to do just shy of 100 miles tomorrow. That way we wouldn't have to worry about getting to the post office before it closed the day after. We rode over to the city park and sized things up, found the shower and some bathrooms and tossed all of our stuff down like the vagabonds that we are. Chris decided to make his home in the motel across the street and I hoofed it over to connect to their wireless network. The last major event of the day was a trip to the Super Wal-Mart where Jeremy and I split some apple fritters that we dipped in chocolate milk back at the park. That was good. I wish I had some right now. We were sitting pretty and so was Jordan after successfully downing a gallon of orange juice.

Actual direction from map: "Turn right at unsigned road. Power pole marked: Switch P7-F901." Get some street signs Kansas.

The German is back.

The caravan is many.

Flat tire? Bummer holmes.

Didn't jump into this one.